A Treasure from the Trash
by Katta
Summary: In the middle of the night, Magnus gets a phone call from Simon, who has found a baby in a dumpster. (Not book canon compliant.)


Author's note 1: I was three pages into the story when I found out that book canon does something very similar. I decided that show canon was dissimilar enough that I could just continue. Then I finished the story, sent it off to the beta, and meanwhile ep 2x05 happened. The universe is conspiring against this fic! So now I'm asking all of you to look past those kids, just long enough to give THIS kid a chance.

Author's note 2: Thank you to goodmaninahurricane for the beta, and to .com for sending her my way!

* * *

Over the past month, Magnus had become quite fond of Simon Lewis. Enough that when his phone buzzed at 4AM and he saw the name on the display, he was more worried than irritated, even though this was one of the first nights he'd had a chance to spend with Alec. He got out of bed as quietly as he could, using a tiny wisp of magic to make sure Alec wasn't disturbed, and went out into the living room to take the call.

The buzzing had stopped by then, and he hit redial, mentally preparing himself for an emergency – or to scold the hell out of that boy if there wasn't one.

"Oh thank G... so glad you picked up," Simon said, sounding stressed but not panicked.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Simon said. "No. I could really use your help. We just found a baby."

"A what?"

"Baby. In a dumpster. Raphael says she's a warlock, so that made me think of you. I would have taken her to the emergency room, but she doesn't look all human, so that doesn't fly, and I don't know much about babies but I don't think she's doing so well..."

"Bring her over," Magnus said, wide awake.

This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. The latest warlock child in need of protection in his immediate vicinity had been Zoe. Even so, he'd never been in the position of taking in the baby himself. This required a completely different mindset. Healing spells were always a safe bet, but there was also warmth, and nutrition, and – knowing babies – cleaning up.

When Simon showed up at the door, he had the baby swaddled in his jacket and held up protectively against his chest. Magnus ushered them both in and placed the baby on his worktable for closer inspection.

Without the jacket, she was tiny, probably no more than five pounds, and with an odd coloring that Magnus feared wasn't entirely down to nature. Her eyes were closed, and though she was breathing, she barely moved as he handled her. Instinctively, he started working his magic to warm her up, though he paused his hands by the piece of flesh attached to her belly, unsure of what to do.

"I didn't have anything to cut it with," Simon said. "Except my teeth, and that seemed, you know, unhygienic. Raphael said there was no harm in letting it stay attached."

"Well, let's get rid of it now, anyway," Magnus said, severing the umbilical cord and cutting it up with one swift stroke.

The cold was her biggest problem – she must be a tough little thing to have endured it for this long – but there was also the beginnings of an infection, and he mixed some healing in, as well as spells to rid her of the grime and dirt clinging to her form.

Simon stood by, arms hanging, and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not right now," Magnus said, deep in concentration. Her soul fluttered against his consciousness, all instincts and hurt, but still reaching out, wanting to live. Not daring to trust what was offered, having learned in these first few hours of her life how precarious it could be.

"Come on, sweetheart," he murmured, sending another stroke of warmth through her. "You can do it."

She opened her eyes. They were dark brown, and quite human.

"Hey, it's working," Simon breathed.

Her little face scrunched up, and she started to cry, showing the tip of her blue, forked tongue.

"There you are," Magnus said gently. The blankets seemed a better option than Simon's jacket, so he took one of them and swept around her, before lifting her up.

"Cradle her head," Simon said, hovering by them. "I don't know much about babies, but I remember that part."

Magnus cradled her head, and sent a final spell of nourishment through her, before letting go of the magic and just holding her close.

She was still crying, and before long, soft footsteps came from the bedroom, and Alec padded in, barefoot.

"What the hell?" he complained, and peered at Magnus. "A baby. The snake I get, and the vampire at least takes care of himself, but a baby?"

"Dumpster baby," Simon said.

That seemed to wake Alec up. "Shit, really?"

He walked over to look at the baby over Magnus's shoulder. Now that she was no longer so cold, her natural hue turned out to have a tint of green, closer to an actual olive than the skin tones normally labeled as such.

"Is it okay?" Alec asked. "Why is it crying? Have you fed it?"

"She's a her," Magnus corrected. "At least I'm guessing she is, I don't want to impose anything on her. And I've provided her with nourishment, warmth and healing, so yes, she should be fine. I think she's just sad. It's been a shocking first night for her."

"Hm," Alec said. "Nourishment, but not food?" He raised his hand, and hesitated only for a moment before letting his fingertip brush against that blue tongue.

The baby closed her lips around his finger, fell quiet, and promptly began sucking.

"She needs a pacifier," Alec said. "And you're gonna have to give her real food sooner or later."

He was right, of course. Magnus's mind reeled at the number of things the baby would need and that he had only the haziest notion of how to provide without wearing out his magic. "I shall have to get her a wet nurse."

"Do downworlders still have those?" Simon asked, frowning.

"I don't know," Alec said, finger still in the baby's mouth. "Shadowhunters don't."

"Well, then what _do_ you have?" Magnus asked. He had no idea if wet nurses were still a thing among downworlders; he'd never had a reason to ask.

"Formula?" Alec suggested.

"They're bound to have formula at the 24 hour supermarket," Simon said. "And pacifiers, and diapers, and... well, you know, all of the baby stuff. I could go shopping, if you like?"

Magnus had a hazy memory of the baby aisle in the nearest supermarket, but he couldn't make it focus on specific items.

"Please do," he said.

"Okay. I'll be right back."

Simon dashed out the door, leaving his soiled jacket behind. Well, as a vampire, he didn't exactly need it anyway.

For a while, Magnus and Alec remained standing by the worktable, baby still suckling with a fervor on Alec's finger.

"Sofa?" Magnus asked.

"Sure."

They made their way over and sat down, close together.

"So what are you going to do with her?" Alec asked.

Magnus sighed. "I'm going to need so much more than Simon can find at the supermarket. Clothes, for a start. A cradle. Parenting books, because God knows I'm not an expert."

"You mean you're planning on keeping her? Permanently?"

The skepticism in Alec's voice brought to mind a similar conversation, more than a century ago, with Camille. That time, Magnus had given in, letting his paramour have the final say on the matter. Now, he looked down at those large, dark eyes in the serious little face, and knew he'd never be able to let her go.

Looking up, he met the gaze of a lighter, but just as beautiful pair of eyes. He wouldn't be able to let _him_ go either.

"Yes," he said. "Do you mind?"

"It's not for me to mind, is it? Just, have you thought it through? Babies are a lot of work, not to mention all the screaming, and the smell, and the general uselessness..."

"I take it you don't like babies," Magnus said, trying to keep his voice light, though his heart was sinking.

"I like _kids_ ," Alec said. "Once they start talking, and, you know, doing things. So if you're sure about this, I'll just grit my teeth for the next year or so."

The baby yawned, letting go of Alec's finger, and blinked a couple of times before her eyes slid shut.

"And get used to the slobber," Alec added, wiping off his finger on his jeans.

Magnus wrapped the blanket closer around the baby. Clothes shopping was definitely a priority; he'd do it first thing in the morning.

Relaxing into his arm, the baby sighed, and then, with an accompanying loud fart, she pooped in the blanket.

"Then there's that," Alec said.

Magnus got up and used some more of the cleaning spell to fix the blanket, the baby, and his shirt.

"This part at least should be easier when Simon returns with the diapers," he said.

Alec shrugged. "A little bit, maybe."

The spell didn't seem to bother the baby any; she had drifted off to sleep, and when Magnus had finished, he sat back down with her in his arms, quietly humming Brahms to keep her sleeping. Alec put an arm around him, so that Magnus was resting his back on Alec's shoulder.

"So what are you going to name her?"

"I don't know." Magnus let his finger caress that little soft cheek. "It's not like I have a list of baby names. I never thought I'd be in this position. Warlock children tend to be older when they find the rest of us. The ones this age... don't usually make it."

Behind him, Alec tensed up. "You're saying this happens a lot?"

"Oh, yes." Instinctively, Magnus held onto the baby a little tighter, and swallowed hard. "Very few mundane mothers care to raise warlock children, and even the ones who try... often find they can't deal with the pressure."

Even after centuries, the pain hadn't subsided – if anything, his recent readiness to open himself up had put another crack in the walls. At least for this tiny little thing, life would be different.

Alec moved his arm a little further down, scooting both Magnus and the baby closer in, and they all sat in silence for a while.

"You know," Alec said, clearing his throat, "I'm sorry. For... for the things I said back when. About you not risking anything."

"Well, you were right," Magnus said, blinking away the tears. "That's the upside, I suppose, of having lost it all already."

"At least you've got us now. And that vamp, for all the good he's gonna do you."

That made Magnus laugh a little. "You don't have people in your life for the _good_ they do you. At least, I hope you don't."

"No," Alec admitted, kissing Magnus's ear. "You're right."

There was another pause, where Magnus let himself be taken by the sensation of a warm body breathing in rhythm behind him, and another in his arm.

"So," he asked, "Do you have any name suggestions?"

Alec only hesitated for a second. "Viola."

"Viola?"

"Yeah."

"Alec, she's green. Kind of clashes, don't you think?"

"Forget it."

Alec sounded so embarrassed that Magnus shifted in order to see his boyfriend's face – which turned out to be blushing.

"Why Viola?" he asked.

"It's just... I always figured that... that was what I'd... anyway, we read Shakespeare as part of our education... I always liked her."

"Enough to put her on your list of baby names," Magnus said slowly. "Yes, I can see that. Viola, who loves the Duke, but can't tell him, because he believes her to be a boy."

"Something like that," Alec admitted with a wry smile. "And totally miserable about it, just like I was."

"She did have a happy ending."

"Yeah, by going back to being a girl. That wasn't really an option."

Magnus smiled. "So you don't like babies, but you had chosen baby names."

"I didn't think of them as babies, more like… six-year-olds. But yeah, I always assumed I'd have some. Sort of a Shadowhunter obligation."

"Things didn't turn out quite like either of us expected, then." Magnus's smile widened. "What was your choice of name for a boy?"

Alec averted his eyes. "Doesn't matter, does it? She's not a boy."

"Satisfy my curiosity." The way Alec squirmed at the question was amusing – and quite telling. Knowing Shadowhunter naming conventions, Magnus hazarded a guess. "Jonathan?"

"David, actually. You forget how paranoid I was, back then."

"So you took it one step removed from the man you loved." Taking pity on his embarrassed boyfriend, Magnus gave him a kiss on the lips. "That's very sweet."

Alec returned the kiss and deepened it. Kissing like this, with a baby in between them, was a new sensation, but it was decidedly something Magnus could get used to.

Coming up for air, Magnus asked, "How about Rosalind? She always seemed happier about the whole crossdressing business than Viola anyway."

"That's As You Like It, right? I never read it."

"Well, you should. Actually, Shakespeare should preferably be watched, not read. I'll take you to a performance. Our next date, what do you say? If there's none playing in New York, we can go elsewhere."

"Oh yeah?" Alec nodded towards the baby. "What about her?"

For a moment, Magnus had forgotten about the less practical aspects of child-rearing. He frowned. "Damn! All right, we'll see a movie adaptation. Not the Branagh. I seem to recall Helen Mirren doing a pretty good Rosalind once upon a time, would that work?"

"I guess," Alec said, looking a little bewildered, though a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Good. That's settled. And _you're_ settled, Rosalind Viola Bane," Magnus told the sleeping baby. "Welcome to the world. It's going to be rough on you sometimes, but I've got you covered, all right?"

"Me too," Alec said gently. "Though I'm nowhere near as powerful as your dad."

The word made Magnus's eyes well up, and this time trying to blink the tears away just sent them spilling over. So he gave in and cried, out of joy and sadness and a heart bursting with new love.

By the time Simon returned, about half an hour later, Magnus had stopped crying and Rosalind had started. Even a nourishment spell wouldn't satisfy her, so Magnus immediately fished out a plastic bottle and a packet of formula from the two giant paper bags Simon had brought, using only the tiniest spell to save some time into combining the items in the recommended way.

Taking the bottle, Rosalind calmed down immediately.

"I guess it's the sucking she wants," Simon said.

"Sounds about right," Magnus said, rocking her as she ate. "Thank you, Simon!"

Simon shrugged. "Hey, no problem. I'm glad she's okay."

Alec had rummaged through the other bag and opened a packet of diapers. "Put one of these on as soon as you've finished feeding her. Max always used to poop after a meal."

"Duly noted," Magnus said. He angled Rosalind a little sideways to introduce her to Simon. "We've named her Rosalind, by the way. Rosalind, this is Simon. Say hi!"

Rosalind was busy drinking and didn't pay much attention to what rot was said around her, but Simon leaned in and smiled. "Hi, Rosalind! Nice to meet you. If you ever need a babysitter, you know who to call."

Magnus's gaze sought out Alec, who shrugged.

"Sure, okay."

"Forest of Arden for our next date, then," Magnus determined. "Wherever in the world that might be."


End file.
